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| Yeah, and I beat the **** outta the loser who said it! |
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| Total Votes : 10 |
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 02:17 AM
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Newbie
Joined: Mar 29, 2008
Posts: 14
Location: In a bubble jungle
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Like most of you, I've always appreciated Serj's witty and tongue-and-cheek, if not off-colour, humour. My parents happen to think he has a terrible voice (Hey, they're parents. They almost never like what the kids do.)
Boy, I'd love it to be that simple with me and my dad.
Because of stereotyping (either because of Serj's heritage or because of some of the misunderstood themes of SoaD's music.), my dad used to joke that Serj was a terrorist. Then he happened to walk into the room just as the video for "Empty Walls" began. Now my dad doesn't joke. He told me later that if Serj was the type to laugh at 9/11 (in reference to the first scene of Empty Walls), then Serj would laugh at the Holocaust (my dad is Jewish, so that really says something. But still, that is A GROSS LIE AND WE ALL KNOW SERJ IS BETTER THAN THAT.) It's not like he takes every opportunity to remind me of this, but if the conversation at dinner turns to Serj (which it does very rarely), he will slip in some reference to his views. I did try telling him "I don't like it when you make jokes about him being a terrorist.", but he just came back saying "Really? Then he shouldn't make videos like that!"
Before you type a reply, PLEASE don't try and tell me that he's a terrible person. Despite this divided view, I love my dad. I just get so pissed off when he makes those jokes and I'm trying to fix this in a way that will involve little-to-no yelling. If this makes any difference, I live with both parents, and while my mom hates Serj's voice too, she has no other opinion of him.
So do you guys think there is anything that can help so that my dad can see that he has some serious rethinking to do? I don't even care if my dad lives the rest of his life not liking Serj's music: I just want him to stop calling Serj a terrorist. |
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 02:34 AM
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Cigaro
Joined: May 25, 2006
Posts: 2779
Location: Bucketheadland
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| Well u can show him the video for boom! to begin with. |
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Watch out for the big fire!
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 02:47 AM
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Ego Brain
Joined: Jun 22, 2008
Posts: 682
Location: sinking in the ocean
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| If he's close minded enough to think making jokes about terrorism in the first place, i don't know what you can do. It may not mean anything much to him, but just after 9/11 in NY, there were plenty of hate crimes and people called terrorist and police did nothing. Some of my friends were targeted by assholes. I'm not calling your father one, but he needs help. |
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CDoris pick up a crowbar and smash your head in you perv.
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 02:51 AM
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Newbie
Joined: Mar 29, 2008
Posts: 14
Location: In a bubble jungle
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| Boom! was actually a pretty good idea that I hadn't thought of, thanks a lot. I think that maybe Serj just tiptoed through a controversial area, but then again, if it was that bad, I would've heard somebody complain other than my dad. |
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 02:57 AM
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Cigaro
Joined: May 25, 2006
Posts: 2779
Location: Bucketheadland
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| No probs. And i think u can also try to explain to him what u think the Empty walls video means, and that he really isnt joking about it, i think the idea of the video was how america goes to wars like kids,n how it all seems immature,and even the kids stopped playin when they saw the dead guy from the window, but thats what i think. |
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Watch out for the big fire!
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 03:12 AM
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Almost Member
Joined: May 13, 2006
Posts: 78
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| no...He'll refer the ''BOOM'' to terrorist explosioons... |
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 03:16 AM
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Member
Joined: Nov 22, 2007
Posts: 167
Location: hiding...always hiding
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 03:40 AM
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Cigaro
Joined: May 19, 2005
Posts: 2903
Location: Northern Virginia
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ummm Serj's video was AGAINST terrorism. Your dad doesn't understand the lyrics or Serj's views about anything. And Serj is against genocide because his people were massacred as well, just like the Jews. Serj fights for human rights, he is a terrorist in no way!
But yes this all sounds familiar. When I told my mother a few years back that I like SOAD, she thought they were middle eastern terrorists or something! Just the way they looked... jeez... and she's Greek too, it's close enough to the middle east that she shouldn't be talking like that :/ I bet Greek is an offspring of the middle east thousands of years ago. And yes, my parents also don't like Serj's voice. My dad loves Frank Sinatra and my mom loves stupid boy bands :/ I think they're both nuts because Serj's voice obviously beats all...... (well is in competition with Daron's...)
Edit: I'm really sorry about your dad, too, I know how you feel. I never was able to change my parents views on SOAD. Sometimes they let me play the CD in the car, but rarely... and I skip songs with curse words because that's a no-no for them.... but yeah I've learned it's just impossible to get people to like SOAD they automatically judge them... just think "oh well, they're missing out on good music  " |
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 03:54 AM
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Spider
Joined: Nov 26, 2007
Posts: 514
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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I would recommend keeping the conversation simple. The next time your Dad refers to Serj as a terrorist, ask him why he thinks Serj is a terrorist. If he refers to that video, ask him what it is specifically about the video that makes him think Serj is a terrorist. Then you will have a point upon which to place your rebuttal.
I also agree that SystemofaDownisHot's first point is an excellent one. If you can let your Dad know that Serj is the grandson of an Armenian genocide survivor, and that over a million Armenians were killed largely by Muslim Turks with mostly German-made weapons--then your Dad just might soften up a bit.
Or not. Sometimes it's hard for people with strong feelings to change their views--especially if their views might be based more on knee-jerk reaction than on fact. Everyone's human, right?
If it's any comfort to you, I'm in my mid-forties and I adore Serj's voice. I don't agree with all of his views, but I love SOAD's music and like some of Serj's independent efforts quite a bit. Some of SOB's music is starting to really grow on me too. And I listen to a wide range of music: opera, latin, jazz, metal, big band, ...
Good luck with your Dad. I can tell that you really care about him a lot. I'll bet he appreciates that fact, too. |
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Posted: Jul 08, 2008 - 03:58 AM
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Ego Brain
Joined: May 03, 2006
Posts: 733
Location: Michigan
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Although I've never heard a single serious complaint about Serj concerning Empty Walls, I've heard plenty of "Serj is a terrorist" jokes and miscellaneous "I hate Serj" comments. 
The best thing you can do is to just ignore your dad's comments and hopefully he'll just forget about it.
Then again, if he does go on, there's always referring him to the many, MANY websites that Serj has or is a part of.. Y'know, like the Axis of Justice website and the little Sky is Over site. Maybe even his ties with Amnesty - all of 'em proof that Serj could never be a real terrorist.  |
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I listen to a lot of Radiohead, that genre.
That's pretty mellow.
What's mellower than Radiohead !
-- John Dolmayan
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